


You're Rust in My Veins

by Cupcakemolotov



Series: come alive [12]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, F/M, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Torture, Psychological Torture, Suggested gore, emotional torture, salvatore bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 13:07:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14112984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: When Damon struck his bargain with Esther, no one expected the consequences to follow them through the decades.





	You're Rust in My Veins

**Author's Note:**

> KCGB Prompt: For anastasiadreams, who donated to Klaroline Gives Back. She requested KC + Happy Ending + No Fluff. I hope this works?

When Elena died, they found Damon cut into pieces; only his face was recognizable. Her childhood friend had passed peacefully, no lingering horrors to mar the softened beauty of her face. Old and faded, Elena had simply gone to sleep and never woken.

Her body had gone missing.

It'd been a decade since she'd set foot in the states, longer still since she'd seen Elena. She remembered the last meeting clearly, the confusion in those dark brown eyes.

"Have I met you before?" Elena tucked her brows together, the worry wrinkle between her eyes prominent now. "You seem familiar."

Caroline hadn't expected to see her. Hadn't attempted to look in on her in years. Whatever friendship they'd shared, it had all but evaporated that day in the Salvatore's basement. The wistfulness was only that. An old, phantom ache for a friendship she remembered fondly. So she simply smiled and shrugged. "I look like my mom. She grew up here."

"That must be it," Elena agreed, waving off her frown with a quick little smile. "Take care, then."

How old had Elena been that day? Forty?

"Caroline, we had to scrape him off the floor," Stefan's voice cut through the past and she sighed into the phone. "It almost wasn't worth burying what was left of him. My _brother_."

The cold edge to his voice worried Caroline far more than Damon's brutal death. Damon had tempted fate far too often, had deliberately attempted to break the spell that kept them all alive on borrowed time. Stefan was walking a precarious ledge, but she'd left behind being a sober sponsor years before, when she'd struck her deal with the devil.

"There was a note."

Caroline stared at the slowly crashing waves from her balcony. "What did it say?"

"' _Even so, I rather think they understand one thing—fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death_.' You know what this means?"

"Klaus always found Richard Connell amusing," she said instead of directly answering his question.

"He'll come for you," Stefan warned, voice harsh. "He'll come for all of us."

"Yes," she agreed. "Be careful, Stefan."

She swiped her phone closed and stood quietly for several moments, absorbing the feel of her balcony and the sweetness of the blooming flowers. Then she headed inside to pack.

* * *

When Caroline was seventeen years old she died and was gifted a monster's heart. It pulsed in her chest, a slow mimicry of a human's and it was _greedy_. From that first taste of the nurse who'd tried only to save her, the monster that lived beneath her skin itched to explore and swallow the world in slow bites.

What she'd never admit was how much Klaus tempted that burning in her chest. What he was, what he offered her with charming smiles and wicked dimples, it _called_ to her. Her darkness she'd first tried to control and later fought to ignore; neither of those choices were serving her well.

And now she was going to die.

"Come on blondie, it's not that bad," Damon drawled from across the room. They were all hanging by their wrists, had been so for days. Everything ached and burned, her control only lingering because Klaus enjoyed breaking them slowly.

She'd never hated someone the way she hated Damon. So she remained silent, the way she'd held her tongue with each encounter as Klaus tortured her friends. He hadn't touched her yet, but the rage in his gaze told her it was just a matter of time.

"We wouldn't be here if you hadn't gone behind our backs to make a deal with Esther," Bonnie said suddenly, her lean face and raspy voice showing the wear of days listening to screams. God, how much longer could she go without water? Her human body was eating itself.

Damon laughed at her. "Do you think Klaus would have followed through on his promise?"

"So you trusted Esther instead," Bonnie rasped. "You're an idiot."

Stefan said nothing. He'd been mute since the second time Klaus had removed his tongue. Elena was tucked into the cell next to them and silent, she just stared vacantly at the floor.

"It doesn't matter," Damon said with a shrug.

"Ah," Klaus said as he stepped into the room, lip curled upwards in one corner. "But I'm most interested."

Caroline didn't bother to look at him; hadn't tried to say anything since Klaus offered to extend her mother an invitation if he heard her voice again. Instead, she kept her eyes on Bonnie.

Bonnie stared at Klaus with her sunken eyes and bared her teeth in a proxy of a smile. "Go to hell."

Klaus looked around. "I'm disappointed. Here I'd hoped I'd created a corner of hell for your enjoyment."

"You'll regret it."

Caroline shook her head at her friend, but Bonnie didn't look at her.

"I regret very little, witch," Klaus warned in a soft voice as he approached her. "Especially when I've been so generous and then betrayed. Have you seen the hunger in your friend's eyes? Would you like to still be alive when pretty little Caroline starts feasting on your internal organs?"

Caroline shuddered, swallowing the bile at the image he created and the way her monster lunged at the idea of food. Klaus' eyes were hard, when he glanced at her.

"She's so hungry. You can tell by the way she's holding herself, how's she fighting so hard to hold on. But all it would take is a single drop of blood and she'll rip you apart."

Bonnie laughed at him. "You'll never touch her. I won't let you."

"And how do you plan on accomplishing that?"

There was a shift in the air, a trembling of pressure and it was suddenly impossible to move.

"When your mother thought she was tempting me, she shared a few interesting things about doppelgängers and spells," Bonnie said lowly. "And I can't unmake you, but I can bind you, Klaus Mikaelson. And you'll never touch Caroline or Elena again."

"And Esther," Klaus said dangerously as he clearly fought her hold, eyes blazing. "Did she tell you the cost?"

Bonnie glanced at her. "Keep them safe."

"No," Caroline snapped, frantic. "Don't do it. _Bonnie_!"

And Bonnie's eyes went white, power screaming through the air and then everything went dark.

* * *

Caroline wondered sometimes if Bonnie had known the cost of her spell.

She hadn't just blocked Klaus from physically ever touching her, Caroline couldn't touch anyone who was linked to the supernatural. Elena had opened her eyes and had no recollection of vampires or witches, had stared blankly at Stefan as if she was looking through him.

Klaus had said nothing, as Caroline sobbed over Bonnie's body, the spell having shattered her shackles. His face was utterly blank, but his eyes. They'd _raged_.

That rage became so much worse, when Klaus realized the protections extended in part to the Salvatores.

"Well, sweetheart," Klaus drawled as he crouched inches from her skin. The blade in his eyes and smile rattled her. "It seems that your life has gained a temporary reprieve. Enjoy it. I think you'll find the end will be quite brutal."

The worst part of the spell was the itching under her skin if she and Elena were too close together. Whatever they carried on their skin, they rejected each other; like magnets that were forced together. And so Caroline had left Mystic Falls, lost and utterly alone.

She'd wandered, ghosts chasing her footsteps and somehow found herself in Singapore.

And fell in love.

The colors, the ocean, the variety of people and languages. The food. She was an outsider in a culture that embraced differences. She stumbled through learning Mandarin and the strange mix of Chinese and Malay the older locals used.

It wasn't until she hit her thirtieth birthday that Caroline realized a decade has passed and the familiar itching crawled beneath her skin.

"Wanderlust."

Caroline froze, every muscle in her body locking up as that familiar, clipped voice cut through her musing. She was looking at up at the Raffles Hotel, and debating the idea of finding dinner when he interrupted. She turned, found Klaus watching her with an expression she couldn't read behind his eyes.

"What?"

He smiled, teeth white in the sunset. "What you're feeling. Wanderlust. A bit of a built in timer, when you've stayed too long in one place. You'll get a feel for it, if you live long enough."

She gave him a cool glance. "Threats already?"

"Let me buy you a drink."

She stared at him for a moment, and then snorted, turning on her heel. "Go to hell."

He fell into step with her, hands folded behind his back. "Really, sweetheart? Such impertinence."

"Add it to my tab," Caroline said coolly. "You can extend the torture session you've planned. Until then, fuck off."

He stepped in front of her, body pushing against the invisible barrier that blocked her from him. She crossed her arms, staring at him with open hostility.

"Perhaps that's what I wanted to speak to you about."

"My death? Excuse me, if I'm not interested in that particular topic."

He grinned, dimples deep and damn him, her monster still liked that look. Damn herself, too.

"I've recently had the most interesting conversation with Esther."

Caroline froze. She shifted her weight warily, watched that pit open behind his eyes. "Your mother is dead."

The monster's smile that widened his lips made her heart pound. "Mikael is dead. But dear old mother, she proved how much she can work against me from the other side. Why would I give her the chance to reunite with Mikael? She'll spend eternity in a box - the same box that kept Finn nicely contained. Well, at least until I find a way to destroy the veil and everything behind it."

"That's impossible."

"For now, perhaps." Klaus tilted his head. "But you'll learn, Caroline, that things change."

"Here I thought I was on a timer."

He reached up, pressed his fingers along the barrier next to her cheek. "Did you betray me, Caroline?"

She held his gaze, let her monster crawl into her eyes. "The answer to that question no longer matters."

* * *

A decade later, she was in Russia when the first gift arrived.

She'd returned to hotel still buzzed from a ballet, unwilling to secure a home when she still missed the sound of waves in her dreams. There was a box on the little table in her sitting area. Warily, she glanced around before opening the velvet lid.

Inside was a pair of ruby earrings.

They were old, precious things that glittered in the dull light. Her heart stopped, lungs tightening as she remembered a diamond bracelet.

She left them behind, when she headed for the train station.

* * *

In Venice, he left her a hand painted fan.

In Rome, a curious set of dueling pistols still flecked with old blood.

Portugal came with a recording of Damon's screams.

He didn't approach her again until Cusco, Peru.

* * *

"You're stalking me," Caroline said coolly as she adjust the softness of her new scarf, the narrow cobblestone bouncing her words down at him. He smiled his hunting smile, paced towards her with little concern for the incline. Thirty years had done nothing to lessen his potency or her temper.

"You don't like my gifts?"

"Should I?" She asked irritably. "I've decided that interacting with my murderer would be counter productive."

"What if I've decided not to kill you?"

She laughed at him, turned to go back to her hotel. "Why lie now, when you've been so honest before? How did you describe the sounds of a femur breaking? Like the crack of a foundation stone? How you can almost hear it mend, with _such_ agonizing slowness if you're denied blood?"

"I will not apologize."

Caroline stopped, faced him with brows pinched together. "Apologize? I'd expect the sun to burn out first."

His lips quirked, but his eyes were serious. "Elijah is in a box."

"Elijah?" She pushed hair out of her face. "Why?"

The expression on his face shook her, left the monster crawling into her gaze. The open, devouring possession and the grinding rage left her unable to draw air into her lungs.

"I do not tolerate lies."

She swallowed and shook her head. "A little late, for that."

His hand slid into his pockets, as he gaze trailed over her skin. "I'll be seeing you, sweetheart."

Klaus bought her dinner in Cambodia.

He ate the man who tried to teach her to tango in the streets of Brazil.

Sent sunflowers to her mother's funeral.

Then Damon happened.

* * *

Caroline woke on fire.

Crying out, she pushed to her knees, shuddering through bone deep pain she hadn't felt since she'd hung by her wrists in the basement of a boarding house. Moaning low, she heaved for air as she vaguely heard someone shush her, the hot scent of blood a distraction as her fangs slid free. There was blood suddenly on her tongue and Caroline bit deep.

Slowly, the pain eased and she released the wrist between her teeth with a gulping breath, shuddering as everything stopped churning. Hot lips brushed her forehead, and Caroline realized she was being cradled against a chest.

"Better, sweetheart?"

Her head snapped around and she blinked stupidly at Klaus. _Klaus_ , who was holding her; whose blood sat on her tongue like ambrosia. She stared at him as the pad of his thumb brushed across her lips and watched as he licked it clean.

"Is Elena dead?"

The curling smile as his hands touched her should have shaken her, but her head was spinning and the endorphins from his blood were making it hard to concentrate. It had been so long since she'd been touched, she nearly vibrated with it.

"No," Klaus said. "I've been told you still anchor part of the spell."

She tried to understand his words, but her monster was out and it wanted skin. Taking a deep, centering breath she tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't let her.

"Let me _go_."

"Why?"

She lifted her chin and glared at him. "Just because you're the first person to touch me since my mom died doesn't mean this is okay. _Let go_."

His hands released her.

She scrambled off the bed. "What do you mean, I still anchor the spell?"

"Someone tried to break the Bennett witch's' protections, mostly succeeded," Klaus drawled as he leaned against at the head board. "It wasn't me."

She was surprised to find she believed him.

"Why?"

"I plan to find out," He returned with a shrug. "They shattered your daylight ring and you'd have burned to death if I hadn't seen you go down."

The lethal edge to his words shocked her, and she remained silent as he stood. Strolling in her direction, he cupped her jaw and smiled, dimples bracketing his hunting smile. "So here we are."

She wanted to lean into his hands and hated it. "Why save me?"

His thumb stroked her cheekbone and he stepped away. It made no sense. If she died, he'd have access to Elena and her blood. Instead, he reached for his jacket, and left her cheeks burning from his touch.

"Don't ignore this present out of spite, love."

The little box held a daylight ring.

This one perfectly suited to her tastes.

* * *

She turned sixty in Mexico City, underneath Klaus. Hands grinding the headboard to ash, legs wrapped tightly around his hips, Caroline let him fuck her mindless. She lost count, the number of times she orgasmed - on his fingers, against his tongue, clenched around his cock.

Caroline gave herself one night of recklessness. Let the monster under her skin have the reins as she tried to satisfy a hunger that had built over decades. They ruined the sheets and the bed, cracked the gorgeous marble tub with the violence of their play.

She came until she was sore, voice hoarse from her cries and her body boneless.

In the morning, Caroline woke alone.

* * *

After Stefan called, she flew to Germany. She'd spent the last five years in Singapore, relearning her favorite place in the world. Tasting it on her tongue and letting it become ingrained on her skin.

Her Mandarin was still terrible.

"Why this painting?" Caroline knew she'd surprised him when she heard his footsteps falter. She stared up at his artwork, waited for him to stand beside her before she turned to look at him.

"What do you mean, sweetheart?"

She arched a brow. "Why did this one end up here? In the Hermitage?"

His smile was slow. "I'll tell you some other time."

Caroline licked her lips, lifted her chin. "Are you going to kill me?"

He reached for a curl, twisted it around his fingers as he watched her from beneath his lashes. "Still think that lowly of me, love?"

"You did torture me."

"A regret I live with," he murmured and her heart started to pound. "Walk with me."

She followed him through the long corridors, silent. When he finally spoke, his words were edged. "Elijah lied to me, that night. Damon and Stefan allowed the lie to continue. For that, they've all paid a price."

Caroline licked her lips. "Stefan is dead, isn't he?"

"Yes."

She nodded, compressed her lips. Sighed heavily, as her fingers plucked at the hem of her shirt. "When did you find out Bonnie and I had upheld our side of the deal?"

"Bekah can be trusted to hold her tongue until her temper outweighs her good sense," Klaus said mildly. "She's put out that Elijah is rotting, but has no desire to join him."

"When Damon ruined my protections, attempting to return Elena's memories?" Caroline started, voice shaky. "Why didn't you kill me? It would have broken the spell."

"The witch who made your ring informed me the only way you'd make it through the spell ending without further complications was if Elena died naturally. I could wait."

She stared at him, feet rooted to the ground. "I don't understand."

He touched her cheek with careful fingertips. "The horrors I planned for you in that basement were numerous. And every time I reached for your body, every time I went to break some small piece of you and grind it into dust, I couldn't."

Caroline's breath caught, remembering his rage and the vicious way he'd tortured both Salvatores.

"Later, I'd thought about tracking you once or twice, to see what your eyes would tell me, but it wasn't until Rebekah confessed, Elijah spouting redemption nonsense that I realized _why_. In Singapore, you looked at me with so much scorn, I knew Elijah had spoken the truth. There was no guilt, to your anger."

She swallowed. "You left me, in Mexico."

"Elena still lived. You've never trusted that I didn't intend to hunt you as I hunted Katherine. Until now, you've lived with the idea that once the spell broke, I'd ruin what was left of your heart, if you gave me the chance."

"Will you?"

He smiled, a lazy curve of his lips. "Kiss me and find out."

"Last time I did that, I woke up alone."

"There are no beds here," he cajoled. "And I'm a possessive, selfish monster, Caroline. Shall I eat your next dance partner as well?"

She huffed, as her lips pressed against his, as she sank into the kiss she'd craved for more than the decade since she'd last touched him. His mouth was soft, tongue a lingering slide against her own and when he lifted his head, her knees wobbled. He brushed his fingers across her lips.

"Will you stay?"

With him.

After everything, would she choose him?

Lips trembling, Caroline breathed deep. "Yes."

* * *

** _Please Comment_ **


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